Thermo Fisher’s $12.5 billion bid to buy Qiagen collapsed after investors rejected the deal on the basis that a surge in demand for coronavirus testing equipment meant the company was worth more.
The deal had an acceptance level of 47.02% among Qiagen shareholders, falling short of the 66.6% threshold needed.
Sales for the Dutch diagnostics group have surged due to a large demand for its COVID-19 test kits.
The deal was announced in early March, prior to COVID being declared a pandemic. At the time, the deal valued Qiagen at approximately $11.5 billion, which included the assumption of approximately $1.4 billion of net debt.
Now, because investors failed to support the transaction, Qiagen will need to pay the agreed upon fee of $95 million to Thermo Fisher.
Read the press release